A Thirst for Desalination Stocks

Salt Island Mono Lake

Availability of water is a major concern for all the states in the southwest, after going through a major drought. But it is not just a problem in the US; water scarcity is a problem for many countries around the world, especially in the Middle East. Water desalination, also referred to as desalinization and desalinisation, could be one of the leading industries in the next decade. It is the process of filtering out salt and other mineral from salt water so that it can be used for human consumption.

Some major companies, such as Siemens (SI) and General Electric (GE) have water desalination divisions that are only a small part of their businesses, but there are other companies which are more of a desalination pure play.

According to our list of water purification and desalination stocks here, there are over a dozen companies involved in the treatment of water, and several of them have specifically targeted desalination.

Consolidated Water Co. Ltd (CWCO) is one of the purer plays in the sector. It operates seawater desalination plants and other water services in the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, and Bermuda, using reverse osmosis technology to convert seawater to drinkable water. The stock trades at 24 times trailing earnings and 19 times forward earnings. The company pays a decent yield of 2.4%. It has been paying quarterly dividends since 1996.

Tetra Tech (TTEK) designs and builds desalination systems that use seawater, brackish water, and reclaimed wastewater sources to help increase water supply, and has been designing desalination plants in Florida since the 1990s. It also designed the first California desalination plant, the Corona Temescal Desalter. The stock has a forward price to earnings ratio of 17, and sports a yield of 0.9%. The company has increased its dividend every year during the last three years.

To see an Excel list of all the stocks involved in desalination and purification, which can be downloaded, sorted, and updated, go here.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Clean Water Stocks

I am currently reading the book Guide to Investing in the Apocalypse by James Altucher and Douglas R. Sease. The book has an entire chapter on the emerging fresh water crisis. The book describes how 40% of the world's population will be without adequate clean water within nine years, according to estimates made by the United Nations. The authors provide several stock ideas in this industry which would be a play on dwindling supplies of fresh water, many of which pay a decent dividend, such as the desalination company Consolidated Water Co. Ltd. (CWCO), currently sporting a yield of 3.6%.

Desalination, also known as desalinization and desalinisation, could be one of the leading industries in the next decade, along with the water purification business. Siemens (SI) and General Electric (GE) have water desalination divisions that make up a small part of their businesses, and according to the list of water purification and desalination stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, there are over twenty companies involved in the treatment of water, and a dozen with yields ranging from 1% to over 4%.

Consolidated Water Co. Ltd (CWCO) is one of the purest plays in the sector. It operates seawater desalination plants and other water services in the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, and Bermuda, using reverse osmosis technology to convert seawater to drinkable water. The stock trades at 15 times forward earnings. The company has raised its dividend in eight of the last ten years.

Another company on the list that is also covered in Altucher's book is Flowserve (FLS), a manufacturer of heavy duty pumps and provider of water treatment services. The stock has a forward price to earnings ratio of 9.3 and pays a yield of 1.4%.

One other appearing on both sources is Mueller Water Products, Inc. (MWA), trading at 12.8 times forward earnings and providing investors with a yield of 3.2%. The company is in the business of water infrastructure and flow control products.

To access a free list of all the stocks involved in desalination and purification, which can be downloaded, sorted, and updated, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Top Water Purification and Desalination Stocks

Radioactive substances leaking into the Japanese water supply has drawn attention to water in general. According to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Water, almost a billion people will not have enough water by the year 2050. This is causing investors to look at desalination, also referred to as desalinization and desalinisation, which could be one of the leading industries in the next decade, along with water purification. Some major companies, such as Siemens (SI) and General Electric (GE) have water desalination divisions that make up a small part of their businesses, but there are other companies which are more of a pure play in the industry.

According to the list of water purification and desalination stocks at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, there are over twenty companies involved in the treatment of water, and a dozen paying yields above 1%.

Consolidated Water Co. Ltd (CWCO) is one of the purest plays in the sector. It operates seawater desalination plants and other water services in the Cayman Islands, the Bahamas, Belize, the British Virgin Islands, and Bermuda, using reverse osmosis technology to convert seawater to drinkable water. The stock trades at 17 times forward earnings and pays a decent yield of 2.8%. The company has raised its dividend in eight of the last ten years.

Tetra Tech (TTEK) designs and builds desalination systems that use seawater, brackish water, and reclaimed wastewater sources to help increase water supply, and has been designing desalination plants in Florida since the 1990s. It also designed the first California desalination plant, the Corona Temescal Desalter. The stock trades at 15 times forward earnings. Earnings for the latest quarter were up 19% year over year.

To access a free list of all the stocks involved in desalination and purification, which can be downloaded, sorted, and updated, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

High Yield Germany Stocks

Of all the countries in the European Union, Germany appears to be one of the strongest if not the strongest. After all, it is the world's largest exporter of goods and has the largest economy in Europe. In terms of alternative energy, Germany is the largest exporter of wind turbines and has the largest capacity of wind power and solar power. If you are interested in investing in this EU leader, there are several German stocks which, in addition to providing growth potential, also provide income through dividends. WallStreetNewsNetwork.com has just published a brand new list called High Yield Germany Stocks, which shows almost ten German stocks that pay dividends, ranging from 1.2% to 7.6%.

E.ON AG (EONGY.PK) is a German-based electric and gas utility which pays a yield of 6.6%. It provides power to central Europe and the United Kingdom, along with the Midwest in the United States. The stock has a P/E of 5.4. The company just reported earnings on Wednesday, showing a revenue increase of 11% for the latest nine months, year over year, and a 9% increase in adjusted earnings before interest and taxes.

The large chemical and plastics manufacturer BASF AG (BASFY.PK) has a payout rate of 3.0%. The stock sports a price to earnings ratio of 13 and forward PE ratio of 10. Earnings for the latest quarter were up an incredible 425.3% on a revenue increase of 23.3%.

The huge electronics conglomerate, Siemens (SI) yields 2.1%. The stock trades at 23 times trailing earnings and 14 time forward earnings. The company just posted a loss for the latest quarter primarily due to writedowns for the acquisitions in the laboratory diagnostics business; however, new orders increased by 25% with an 8% rise in sales. The company also announced a 69% dividend increase.

To access a free list of dividend paying German stocks, that can be downloaded, updated, and sorted, go to WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

The Largest Employers in the World

You might be surprised to learn what the largest employer in the world is. Want to take a guess? It is the Chinese Army, also known as the Peoples Liberation Army, at 2.3 million employees. WalMart (WMT) is in second place with 2.1 million employees, then the Indian Railway at 1.4 million, and the National Health Service in the United Kingdom at 1.33 million.

In fifth place is China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (SNP) also known as Sinopec Corp. with 639,690 employees. Then there is G4S, a private security company in England in sixth place at 585,000 employees. Seventh is PetroChina (PTR), China's biggest oil producer which trades on the NYSE, with 539,168 employees.

Deutsche Post (DPSGY.PK), is another publicly traded big employer. This mail and package delivery company has 436,650 employees. The engineering conglomerate Siemens (SI), also publicly traded and trades on the New York Stock Exchange, has 420,800 employees. Last but not least, McDonalds (MCD), the fast food company, has around 400,000 employees.

If you like interesting lists of stocks such as these, check out all the free stock lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Disclosure: Author owned SI and MCD at the time the article was written.

By Stockerblog.com

Bloom Box (Bloom Energy) IPO?

Bloom Energy is the Sunnyvale, California manufacturer of solid oxide fuel cells that was featured on 60 minutes last month. Reportedly, the company's small fuel cells are as efficient as and as much as doubly efficient as a conventional power plant.

Questions have been coming in to me about investing in the Bloom Box, or more technically, How do I invest in Bloom Energy, When is the Bloom Energy IPO, What is the Bloom Energy stock symbol, What is the Bloom Box stock ticker. I have seen several supposed Bloom web sites which appear to be unauthorized sites, and maybe even worse, talking about the upcoming IPO of Bloom Energy or the initial public offering of the Bloom Box company. One site had a posting about a month ago that said that Bloom Energy was going public in two days. It hasn't gone public and hasn't even filed an IPO with the SEC to go public.

But investors still want in on the action. Investing in the company's customers would be futile from a fuel cell standpoint, as the effect on the bottom line would be negligible. Bloom's major customers include Google (GOOG), Coca-Cola (KO), eBay (EBAY), FedEx (FDX), Staples (SPLS), and Wal-Mart (WMT).

Investors could also look at Bloom's competitors that are involved in the development and manufacture of fuel cells, such as Ballard Power Systems (BLDP), United Technologies (UTX), Plug Power (PLUG), Westinghouse Electric division of Siemens (SI), and General Electric (GE).

Last but not least, you can take a look at the companies that Bloom does business with. The most significant example is Modine Manufacturing Company (MOD), a manufacturer of thermal management products. Modine, which trades on the New York Stock Exchange, has a forward price to earnings ratio of 90. Bloom Energy licensed Modine's thermal management technology for an up-front fee of $12.0 million last year. In addition, Modine provided transition services to Bloom Energy, including the sale of products, for an additional fee. Modine is currently selling for less than $12 per share.

If you like fuel cell stocks and other green companies, you should check out the lists at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.



Author owns EBAY, FDX, and SI.

By Stockerblog.com

How Have the High Priced Shares Performed?

Back 0n August 21, 2008, we published an article called Top High Priced Share Stocks, which listed all the stocks trading in excess of $100 a share, that had P/E ratios less than 20, PEG ratios less than 1, market caps above $15 billion, and all but one paid a dividend. Remember, this is just before the market took its big dump.

Surprisingly, an interesting correlation turned up. The higher the higher priced shares, the better the return, and the shares that traded close to the $100 breakpoint did the worse. All the stocks that traded under $135 per share were down, and the others were up.

Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS) the large investment banking firm, had the highest priced shares on the list at about $154 per share. It is now trading at $175, an increase of 14%.

CNOOC Limited (CEO) is the explorer and producer of crude oil and natural gas off the coast of China which was trading at $143 per share. It is now at $165, a 15% increase.

Transocean Inc. (RIG) provides offshore contract oil and gas drilling services. It was trading at about $133 per share, and is now at $85, down 36%.

Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. (DO) is another offshore oil and gas drilling contractor including deepwater drilling traded at $114 per share. The stock is now at $89, down 22%.

Siemens AG (ADR) (SI) is the huge German electronics and electrical engineering conglomerate. It traded for $110 per share. It is now at $94, a 15% drop.

Hess Corp. (HES) is a developer and producer of oil and natural gas. It traded at $109 per share. The stock is now at $61, a drop of 44%.

Continental AG (CTTAY.PK) is a German auto parts maker. It was trading at $103 per share. The stock is now at $51, a 50% drop.

If you like really high priced shares of stock, you should check out the list at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Author does not own any of the above.

By Stockerblog.com